Two-finger Test Was Not Done On Woman Officer, Says IAF Chief, Refutes Claim In Rape Case

Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari denied the charge of a woman that she was subjected to the banned two-finger test at the Air Force Hospital after she accused her colleague, a Flight Lieutenant at the Air Force Administrative College in Coimbatore, of rape.

Responding to a question during a press conference ahead of Air Force Day on October 8, Chaudhari, who took over as IAF chief on September 30, said: ¡°The two-finger test, that you mentioned, it is misreported.¡±

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IAF chief's statement

¡°The actual fact is that it has not been done. And I can confirm to you that this test was not done. We are well aware of the rules. All actions, all disciplinary actions that will come out from this inquiry, will be taken,¡± he said.

Coimbatore-based advocate R Mohanakrishnan, who was present in court during the hearing and handing over of the accused flight lieutenant from judicial custody to the IAF, said that since the magistrate court did not have any power in this case, the court had not recorded statements and evidence given by the victim.

The lawyer's comment

¡°Now, the medical officers will not go against the Air Chief Marshall. The victim can only come out and say they have conducted the finger test. The only material evidence now is an entry in a register kept in the Medical Inspection room in the Air Force where any person going for a medical check has to register their name, rank and service number,¡± he added.

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The IAF took over the case last week after the woman first filed a complaint with police on September 20. The 28-year-old woman had told police that her seniors in the IAF forced her to withdraw her complaint against Amitesh Harmukh, who allegedly raped her while she was unconscious in her room on campus at the Air Force Administrative College in Tamil Nadu¡¯s Coimbatore district.

The victim's statement

She told the police that after her complaint she was sent to the Air Force Hospital where two women doctors asked her about her ¡°sexual history¡±. The woman said that one of the doctors inspected her private parts, and conducted the two-finger test.

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She reached out to the police after losing confidence in how the Air Force Administrative College was conducting the investigation, but a Coimbatore court went by the book and accepted the accused¡¯s plea that he could only be court martialled, not tried in a civilian court.

The case comes at a time when women are being given more opportunities in the armed forces to realise their potential.